11 Tent City, Sacramento, CA
The skeletal figure of a woman stands guard over the kitchen at the entrance
to a homeless camp beside the railroad tracks next to the huge Blue Diamond
almond processing plant, near the American River in Sacramento. Residents
of this small community call it Rancho Encasalotengo (a sarcastic comment
meaning, "I have it at home), and the skeleton is a figure in Mexican
culture. Hundreds of people live in tents, under makeshift tarps, or simply
sleep on the ground in this community, which has mushroomed in the last
few months as the economic crisis puts people out of homes and jobs, onto
the streets.